Constructing the White City was a massive undertaking, and Burnham was involved in aspects great and small, from choosing the architects involved to seeking out references for the most reliable grass mowers. The challenge was made all the more difficult by the tragic early death of John Root in 1891 from pneumonia. Burnham and Root would go on to design other residential, commercial and civic structures, but their most influential works were buildings such as the Montauk, the Rookery and the Monadnock that helped inaugurate the era of the skyscraper in Chicago.īurnham moved from these momentous achievements to what would be his greatest challenge to date-directing the design and construction of the grounds of the 1893 Columbian Exposition, a grand complex of buildings and waterways that would come to be known as the White City. The successful completion of the project brought not only more commissions, but also Burnham’s engagement and marriage to Sherman’s daughter, Margaret. After these disappointments and a brief time spent prospecting in the West, Burnham returned to Chicago and settled into a career in architecture, forming what would be an integral partnership with John Wellborn Root.Īfter a period of struggle and hardship, the partners got a break when asked to design a home for stockyards magnate John B.
As a young man he excelled at athletic and artistic pursuits, though not at academics, and he tried and failed to gain admittance to Harvard and Yale. Born in 1846 in upstate New York, Daniel Hudson Burnham moved with his family to Chicago at age 8.
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